The stage is set. Dundee United, the club who were last to beat Celtic, stand in the way of their treble ambitions, as the clubs meet on three consecutive occasions next month. The first game, a Scottish Cup quarter final at Tannadice, is the most crucial.
United lost their best two players last week but they remain they will know that beating Celtic at home will make them favourites for the Scottish Cup. They will be far less confident at the following week’s League Cup final, Dundee United expectations are always low at Hampden, but pressure will be on the club to win their home game.
A note on the suitability or otherwise of a director of a public company. In the UK, only the courts can ban you from being a company director, HMRC cannot ban you, any more than they can ban you from driving. In the UK, public companies are held to a higher standard than private companies. If anyone presents to you claiming, “HMRC have never banned me from driving/being a company director”, you know your being misled. The same is true for most jurisdictions.
The AIM market requires companies to have nominated adviser (nomad), which carries out regulator duties on behalf of the market, and ultimately shareholders. The fact that UK, or other, courts have not prohibited you from being a company director implies nothing about your suitability as a director of a public company. When it comes to the AIM market, this suitability is judged by your effective regulator, your nomad. A recent history of financial criminal activity, for example, will give your nomad plenty to consider, as would a recent history of being a director in a liquidated public company. Far more would decline such a candidate than approve.
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Weefra thoughts and prayers with you and your wife today. As this is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a special one will be said to her for you both.
Our new strip for next season?
http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/images/sarah_cox.jpg
Morning all
First off- Good luck to the Bhoys tonight. As Lion Roars 67 puts it ‘the title is far from being certain yet’ and with bigger games on the horizon it would be easy to take our eye off the ball and I am a bit concerned about all the talk of trebles in the wider domain. WE have been here in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and ended up with only 1 trophy each season and in 2003 we missed out on everything. Staying focussed is a cliche but it it is still true.
As for the Sky/BT deals I genuinely do not know what can be done to prevent the continued rise of the EPL. Some of the notions being floated on here about having the games banned from being broadcast last night seemed a touch fanciful. I would think that SKY/BT would challenge such a ban in court.
I really can’t offer anything positive on this. We are not going to get into the EPL. Nobody down there wants and more importantly needs us. The word ‘Celtic’ will not have been thought far less mentioned by anybody at BT, SKY or anybody else who put in bids for the EPL TV rights. It seems even less likely that the Scottish game will seek to merge itself with the English game in the way that the old GDR leagues merged with the West German leagues after Germany was reunited. The Atlantic League has always seemed to me be quite a good idea in theory although there seems no great enthusiasm for it in any of the countries it would apply to far less any possibility of it being ever sanctioned by UEFA or FIFA. We seemed to be headed to a situation where other than the two big Spanish clubs, Bayern and maybe Juventus no club in continental Europe is going to have anything like the financial muscle of any team in the EPL. The sums being lavished by these two corporations are of course astronomical and I am not sure that they make complete sense economically but as long as they are willing to bankroll a league that only 3 and a half teams have serious chances of ever winning then the bubble won’t burst even if the debts of many of the clubs ( sorry companies) make those of early 21st Century Rangers seem like loose change. We just have to carry on being shrewd I suppose.
Hail! Hail! to all
Jimbo67
Inter game will be a measurement of progress since CL exit
Over the 2 games I expect Celtic to be “in the game” in the last 15 minutes in the San Siro with a good chance of getting to the last 16
We will not get bullied and we will cause them problems
But it will be difficult to knock them out – not impossible
67 ECW
JIMBO67
Insightful stuff,as ever. IMO,the bubble can only burst in one of three ways.
1-Too many teams going bust after dropping out of the EPL-increasingly unlikely now that the reward for failure approaches £100m. Maybe Bolton,Wigan,Cardiff,etc,would have cleared their feet with another season or two at those rates.
2-EU competition law bringing an end to the farce,though God knows how. It can hardly be termed a monopoly when it is an open tender.
3-Viewers turning away in droves at the poor product and exorbitant prices. If people don’t pay Sky,Sky can’t pay the EPL.
I reckon we’re stuck with it,bud.
The home game v Internazionale Milano is now officially a sell out!
I’m looking for 1 spare ticket for tonight.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
~SPF~
As a supporter, I ALWAYS think that the next game is a tricky one and an upset is on the cards. Even so, I am surprised at the defeatist talk concerning the Inter game ( Sorry Geordie!). Of course they will be favourites to go through but it is not a gimme. This ` we are inferior` attitude is fairly common in Scotland . The supremacist stance of supporters of the deid club is more akin to the attitude of the White Trash folk in America. ie they don`t really believe it.
JJ
Is anyone else still awaiting the arrival of their Inter ticket?
GettingworriedCSC
JJ,
I’ve had mines for a couple of weeks now. Same with an extra two I picked up.
I’d give them a buzz neebs
HH
JIMBO67
Taking them on is maybe not the way.
Football is our national sport too. We see that even when the smaller clubs reach a cup final they will bring a massive support.
We have to work out how to get them into grounds more often.
We are all talking about the obscene money in England and it seems to have united not just Scottish football fans but fans in Holland, Portugal, Germany, France etc.
This is intruiging as we are in a stronger bargaining position when clubs in those countries are in our corner:)
It is also intruiging that it is this new English TV that may be the straw that breaks the camels back as I thought the last one was just as ludicrous at the time with the bottom club getting a ~60m prize, essentially for failure.
What are we going to do to improve our lot is the question?
Doing nothing is not an option.
HH
HH
proudbhoy-agree on Gudetti.He said a few weeks ago he was leaving talks to his agent,maybe he should work it out himself now.He needs to settle down and get his career going,sometimes that’s not chasing the money.I like the guy,and seems to be popular among the group too.He needs to make a decision soon,i hope it’s with us,as i think there’s a really good player in there.HH
proudbhoy,
Agreed .It always sends a shiver through me.Wonderful.Many thanks for posting.
*BMCUWP
Yip I think we are stuck with it. Working in Glasgow in a workplace filled with young men ( and women) who really like football they pay lip service to supporting Celtic ( and other teams) but very few actually actively support Scottish football and on a Monday morning when they talk about the weekend’s football even last Monday the talk was more about the English games than the League Cup semi final.
Jimbo67
jungle jim hot smoked-got mine a couple of weeks ago too…
Geordie
I just gave them a `buzz` and was told they are often dispatched `three to five days` before the game.
Thanks anyway,
JJ
JJHS
They were sent out the last week in Jan.
If you’re on Twitter you can contact, Celtic FC Tickets@CelticFCTickets or CelticFC SLO@CelticFCSLO.
~SPF~
Watched a terrific game Liverpool v Spurs last night.5 goals,plenty of mistakes,misplaced passes,but end to end stuff.The reason?.Both teams playing the high pressing game.Not having seen a great deal of Spurs,the commentator was saying Pochetino is a fitness fanatic.Has his teams running and pressing the whole game.Liverpool superbly fit also.
Ronnies way is the way forward.Its through his coaching I can see us giving Inter a really hard game.Fit and physical.
BMCUW
Sarah Cox has brightened my day. Thanks bud! :)
JJ,
You must be on the ‘watch list’ due to your previous misdemeanours. :p
HH
DELANEYS DUNKY
Aye,she has that effect,mate!
SKY/BT EPL highlights are sold all over the world, that is why they can pay silly money for them.
All over Asia you can watch two games at the same time from the EPL in any pub, even the ones starting at 2AM. In the USA they are shown on Pay Per View TV such as Direct TV. India are mad about English football. Japan and Korea are the only exceptions.
Trying to find a Celtic game now is much more difficult, I rely principally on a VPN to connect to SKY or BT. In the USA dependent on the city you can find a CSC, they generally charge between $10-20 entrance, members or non members to cover their PPV TV costs and to make a few bucks for the club.
So provided the TV companies are able to flog rights overseas the bubble will not burst anytime soon but those clubs who overspend to stay in the EPL (Portsmouth for example) will do a “The Rangers” but the big clubs will get bigger its a never ending cycle at the minute.
Look at Man Utd £160 Mio in transfer fees this summer and they are hopeless, David Moyes was very harshly treated by them, cant stand Louis Van Gaal.
The only way I can see any real increase in the Scottish TV money is if all SKY subscribers in Scotland tell them at the next negotiation (hopefully not done by the present incumbents) that unless we get a representative share of this money in Scotland we will cancel our subscriptions en masse, that might help, then again who knows?
Time for coffee, laters………..
ROBINBHOY
The £5bn+ deal announced yesterday is for UK rights.
Overseas rights are separate and additional,and likely to be in the region of £2-3bn.
Yes,on top of what was announced,they’re gonna get half as much again.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Wow! Never read the small print. Its crazy money!
So effectively the subsidise the EPL with overseas money, not too bad!
RobinBhoy,
“if all SKY subscribers in Scotland tell them at the next negotiation (hopefully not done by the present incumbents) that unless we get a representative share of this money in Scotland …”
There have been several arguments like this over the past few days. But you show in your own post exactly why Sky won’t pay as much for Scottish football as English – it has less commercial value to them.
Highlighting the whole Scotland/ England difference may suit the political agenda of some, but Sky is a business and simply doesn’t care. There isn’t a Scottish market and an English market to them, there are UK and overseas markets. And in both the numbers watching English games is many times that of those watching Scottish games.
It’s always going to be a vicious circle – less attractive football means less money means lesser players bought means less attractive football ….
The only way to change it is to get out of Scottish football. And I can only see that happening when a European league comes around.
ScotsPatsFan
Don’t have any spare mate but if it’s just one you’re after there shouldnt be a problem picking one up near the ground. Try either the Woodside Inn on Maryhill Road or the Star & Garter on Garscube Road, both well within walking distance of ground and Ive always managed to pick up tickets in either. Good luck
HH
ROBINBHOY
As you’ve discovered,it’s a worldwide product.
It may be dross most of the time but it’s popular dross,style over substance.
There was never any chance of Celtic “buying” Guidetti in the January window because his contract is up in June. Talk of a £3m price tag was pure fantasy on the part of the SMSM.
All Celtic did was attempt to tie the player up on a pre-contract agreement. Guidetti decided to leave it until the end of the season and I can completely understand that. He is already a Celtic player until then under the current loan agreement so there was no need for him to commit to anything beyond that.
It never ceases to amaze me how, on the one hand the SMSM constantly tell us how miserly the Celtic board is with the club’s money, yet they expect us to believe that they are happy to throw £3m at Man City for a player they already have until the end of the season and can secure permanently for nothing after that.
Guidetti is undoubtedly going through a lean spell at the moment, but it happens to all strikers. I believe he will come good again once he finds the net, hopefully tonight at Firhill.
Traditionalist88
i doubt that the broadcasting companies or football associations are remotely bothered about how and what fans who actually care about their clubs and the game generally think. Such hubris may be their undoing I suppose.
Scottish football it seems to me is in a uniquely unenviable situation . we are right next to the EPL and our came – though frequently more entertaining- suffers in comparison. Our game is uniquely lopsided in that we now only have one big club – us- and that is not really good for anybody. (that is not Celtic’s fault). We are not helped that our game is run by incompetents who at times have favoured another, formerly, big club as well as looking after themselves but even a well run hierarchy would struggle with this.
I am pessimistic about the situation but other than Sky and BT going bust ( which I would not want howevrt much I loathe them) I cannot see things changing for the better. Making sure they do not get worse will be an achievement
Jimbo67
A wee snippet from the RIFC Shares Discussion Board re. the Lying King and his SA legacy.
“….and there were 322 other offences that the NPA (National Prosecution Authority) may pursue at a later date.”
Ooerrr.
GORDON J
SPFL rights are worth around £16m a year. EPL rights are worth around 100 times that.
You are right that the audience figures do not compare,but there is no way the disparity reflects the payments made.
It would mean that Scottish games with say 100k viewers were worth 1% of what English games were worth. They don’t get 10m viewers a time,so we’re being short-changed.
EMERALDBEE
That may be sooner than King would like if the NPA and SARS get wind of his comment about buying Liverpool.
I’ll bet they would love to know where the money would come from…
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked
10:34 on
11 February, 2015
Geordie
I just gave them a `buzz` and was told they are often dispatched `three to five days` before the game.
Thanks anyway,
JJ
————————————
I’d call again and check that they have the tickets in the system. I called yesterday to check on an email request from mid-January and they found no trace of an order. All ok now (I hope!)
“My own belief is it will still be difficult to get a sponsor as long as Rangers behave the way they have been. We’re not projecting ourselves as businesses that can self-manage ourselves.” (Roy McGregor Ross County)
Before we even deal with TV rights the rotten core of Scottish football needs to be ripped out. It seems though the worm is slowly turning and more are speaking out but unless there is real change, at the SFA and SPFL, we’ll flounder along awaiting the never to be found nirvana they dream of when their beloved team resurrect.
jimbo67
we need Hearts and Hibs back in the top flight as soon as possible for a start. The Edinburgh derby in the top flight is an attractive fixture.
If those clubs along with Dundee Utd and Aberdeen can continue to prosper who knows, the future may be brighter than we think right now.
The biggest clubs in Scotland have a large potential support base which is a bit untapped, like us before the McCann takeover in 94.
How much is actually going to change anyway with the new TV deal in England –
the previous TV deals down there were shocking enough anyway. Its just going to end up in the pockets of average players.
No matter how much TV give them they can’t change the climate – the top, top players given the choice would go to Madrid or Barca everytime over England.
Sadly the increase in TV money for the EPL and other leagues continues to reduce our standing increasingly towards minnow status. How can we compete when we struggle to buy a £2 million pound player when say, Leicester, can afford many times that?
Someone in Scotland needs their ass kicked for accepting such paltry TV money in comparison to our neighbours. It’s surely got to be better than we’re getting?
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS,
You are only comparing UK viewers – the difference worldwide is much more. Also, the commercial value to Sky is worth much more than the number of viewers. The business model always used EPL football as a hook to attract subscribers. And then there’s advertising revenue t think of too.
Look at it this way. If Sky lost EPL football, how many subscribers would they lose? How much income? The whole business may well collapse.
But if they lost Scottish football?
BMCUWP/ GORDONJ et all
A friend has just remarked on Facebook that we would need to win the lesgue 50 years in a row to earm from Sky what the BOTTOM club will earn for one season under the new EPL deal. My friend is no better at maths than I am but I feeling he is not as wildly wrong as he often iS
Ah well ‘ herr we go! 5